BARBERMONGER is a site designed to help roleplayers find other roleplayers, specifically one-on-one roleplayers, as opposed to larger roleplay games. Functioning like a pinboard, BARBERMONGER allows users to create advertisements, bump advertisements, and respond to other advertisements, without requiring them to register an account. However, registering an account will allow you to edit your posts, find your own topics, and use the private messaging system.

So sometimes people have ideas for forums or group games that they want to do, but maybe they're inexperienced in running a game or they're just looking for small number of people to participate, so they're hesitant to start anything up themselves. Well, what if you guys hosted a few small games, like actual roleplays, maybe allowed space for a limited number based on a light proposal and projected/pledged interest?

That sounds extremely similar to what we already do over at Distant Fantasies.... of course there's nothing stopping you from doing it, but it would be rather rude if you did rip off someone else's idea.

I was waiting until I had time to test implement this to reply, but now you have my attention!

Are you saying you have a patent on awarding prizes for special participation? Because as far as I'm aware, there are an innumerable amount of sites who do that. I apologize if there's any confusion over the originality of Niki's idea.

There are various sites that have multiple games on their site, but as far as I'm aware we are the only ones to coin the term 'mini rpg' and specifically offer exactly what Niki wants you to do here. To be honest her post sounds as though she's read our info post and then posted it here. It's THAT similar and that is what caught my attention.

A mini-RPG is a RPG that you don't quite want a full fledged forum forum for but still want to play with others. There is no restriction on maturity or type of RP but there are a few things required to get them setup.

How it works is that you create a petition to start one up. As long as you have all the required information the staff will create you a mini-RPG and make you a moderator. At that point you put up your games rules/requirements (including if you require apps or if people can just jump straight in) and you are set to go. It's really that easy.

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A Mini-RPG is a RPG a fully fledged RP forum right here on DF. It's a great way to play an RP idea out or reopen a past game without the hassle of putting a full sized site together. There is no restriction on maturity or type of RP but there are a few things required to get them setup. You'll have your own sub-forum and moderating privileges, as well as control over every aspect of the game.

To create a Mini-RPG we have set up a petition process; complete a form and meet the requirements and voilà you have your Mini-RPG!

So it isn't a case of doing something that has been done a million times before, it would be ripping off a service that we have had implemented for a while now. I am asking you nicely from one admin to another to respect our own ideas and creativity and not copy us.

Actually I think where it started from was I misinterpreted this post as the person asking if they could START a game here and xander offering to make a forum for it. I don't remember why I read it that way but I do remember going back on it and thinking "wow that was not what they were asking but that could be fun"!

I've also seen actual game forums where instead of like a tracker/plotter the players are given a whole subforum to dedicate to their rp, which was also kind of part of it, as well as the fact that I've been on a few forums that have, in addition to the actual plotted game, subforums in which you can play out AUs irrelevant to the game, and things like that. There's also roleplayhub, that has guilds, I believe? Wherein you join groups and come up with a group plot and basically do a side-game in addition to OOC discussion and advertising, contests, etc. Hell, I'm on a doll forum where they literally give you a section to create RP games to play with other people on the forum. My first RP ever was on an anime site and literally all we did was make a thread for character profiles and one for plot/setting, and then we went to town. Anybody could join it and thread with anyone else. RPGD has a forum dedicated to getting OTHER PEOPLE to make the kind of game you'd want to see, because not everyone wants to run a game even if they want to play in it, which also plays a part in the desire to give people low-key, low-stress gaming.

Point being that I saw that post and misinterpreted it, but it reminded me of all of these kind of different ways I had seen this sort of thing done and asked for and I thought maybe it could be implemented here to promote community participation! That's all<3

I would honestly have been quite shocked if I was the first person to suggest this somewhere, since it's kind of a natural addition to a roleplay site, because yes while this is a 1x1 specific site, some people do enjoy rping in groups! Or maybe they just want something to do until a really great 1x1 RP comes along. Like reading Highlights in the waiting room.

If it's a question of calling it something else, like the roleplay guilds on rphub, or mini games I guess is what it is there (which for me comes from video games as far as terminology -- I played head bowling on Harry Potter for GBC way too much), that's not a huge issue and it's easily rectified. I can say I have checked out DF before, but I actually did not even know that was a thing there since I had a lot of trouble navigating the site to begin with and just kinda gave up. It was a miracle I figured out how to register, I couldn't even find the rules. Yes I am that dumb.

So, I'm really very sorry if you felt like I ripped you off. Not saying my idea is original at ALL, but I've seen it everywhere and I just think it's a pretty natural step to take when you have a bunch of RPers together. They want to RP. Give them an environment to do it in and a pool of players to do it with, where they don't HAVE to wait, or can play WHILE they wait, for inspiration to strike and bring them a great 1x1 plot.

My thoughts are scrambled I'm sure this isn't really coherent at all, but yeah. Really sorry. It's up to the admin what she wants to do with it at this point.

I'm going to respectfully ask you to reign in your enormous self-importance before you come onto my forum and accuse one of my members of preemptively stealing! Beyond your attitude being overly defensive and entirely unproductive, there are numerous sites that incorporate similar miniature roleplays and systems, some that host entire miniature forums.

While I try to avoid punishing content at the expense of tone, I am embarrassed at your complete lack of diplomacy. Should you have felt true fear that your ideas were on the brink of being stolen, you had full access to the PM system here. You were one message away from voicing your concerns to me, the administrator. Yet you chose to try and menace me and my member in an open thread. That makes you a terrible negotiator and a poor representative of your site.

I trust Niki when she says she has seen similar ideas everywhere and was only trying to introduce a new aspect to this site, and I will happily consider her idea.

Thank you for making it perfectly clear that you have no interest in working with other resources in the RPG community or respecting your fellow site admins. I have said what I wanted to say and will leave it at that.

gurl just because google is the king of internet search does not mean that facebook is ripping them off by having a search bar

there is No Benefit to being proprietary in the roleplay forum domain. the quality of your roleplays or ours will not be diminished by someone else running an rpg in a similar way to yours. in fact the more that people write the more that they will look for places to write and touch other writers, and this can only be GOOD for you.

you are approaching niki and our site in a hostile manner over a non-issue. if your goal is to work with other site admins to enrich your community, there are better ways to go about it.